Graphics on LCD monitors look washed out and dull

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: xtknight
My 6-bit TN did have quite washed out and tinted colors compared to vibrancy of my eMachines CRT. However, this VP930b (8-bit VA) will match the CRT or beat it at calibrated settings. The CRT didn't look perfect either. It had too much of a red-yellow bias to the image. My VP930b just looked natural. I think the problem is so many people have made images with that red-yellowish bias in mind, or something like that.

Oh, man. Don't even get me started on "red push".

MOST computer monitors are pretty neutrally balanced (or even slightly blue). However, many that are specced as "TV"s (or cheap ones that want to look better in crappy store lighting) add extra red to the video feed because it makes the images look warmer. If you look at two screens side-by-side noncritically (especially under crappy fluorescent lighting), most people will naturally like the one that has more red added to the signal -- but it destroys the color fidelity and balance. If you're trying to do print work, or you want to see images the way the person who created them intended them to look, you're SOL on a display that does this.

Of course, there are people who willingly use NVIDIA's "Digital Vibrance" feature, which does much the same thing (except it cranks ALL the saturation up, not just red). I'm not sure what's wrong with these people.

Originally posted by: Compellor
LCDs usually need to be calibrated properly since they never look that good right out of the box. The brightness is usually set too high, and the color and gamma settings need to be tweaked to get a good image.

It's always a good idea to get an LCD that has a high contrast ratio like 800:1 or better. The lower the CR the more washed out it will look. Also look for an 8bit panel since the color is much better on them. Don't go with the cheaper $300 LCDs if you care about PQ.

That's very true. My VP930b needed a ton of adjustment (DeltaE 5.2 default!). Other monitors like the Samsung 970P (DeltaE 2.7 default!) are very good at default according to BeHardware. In order to make my VP930b not washed out, I had to use the ICC profile on the monitor CD. After I did though, everything looked great. Then I changed my Windows gamma to the 2.20 this monitor specified, and voila. I never thought I'd remove that wash-out, but it's amazing how much a gamma profile can do.

My VP930b also needed quite a bit of tweaking to look good. The profiles and calibration software on the included CD made a HUGE difference. It also looked a bit washed out at first, and just tweaking brightness/contrast didn't seem to help all that much. Adjusting the color profiles fixed it.

With a good, 8-bit LCD, you should be able to make it look comparable to all but the VERY best CRTs in terms of color (maybe not in terms of black level, but color fidelity should be fine). If you read THG'd LCD reviews, they use a LaCie calibrator to set up their monitors, and they have had no problems getting most of the ones reviewed in the last year or two to professional-quality color calibration.

 

[videogames101]

So, is the 2005fpw 8-bit?

 

[Phantronius]

Originally posted by: videogames101
So, is the 2005fpw 8-bit?

Yes it is

 

[videogames101]

Originally posted by: Phantronius

Originally posted by: videogames101
So, is the 2005fpw 8-bit?

Yes it is

Are there montiros out there with a higher widescreen res?

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: videogames101

Originally posted by: Phantronius

Originally posted by: videogames101
So, is the 2005fpw 8-bit?

Yes it is

Are there montiros out there with a higher widescreen res?

There are a number of 24" and 30" widescreen LCDs with higher resolutions. Please search if you would like more information, as they have been discussed several times recently.

 

[Phantronius]

Dell 2405 = 1920x1200
Dell 3007 = 2560x1600
Apple Cinema 30" = 2560x1600


Beyond that, you'd have to get a HDTV to get larger then 30" for the most part.

 

[xtknight]

There are 15.4" widescreen LCDs on laptops that are 1920x1200 so the technology isn't the limitation.

http://www.samsung.com/Products/TFTLCD/Products/ResolutionofLCD.htm
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=15.4%22+notebook+WUXGA&btnG=Google+Search

 

[Phantronius]

I'd have a hard time enjoying the microscopic fonts on 15.4" LCD with a 1920x1200 rez.

 

[kmmatney]

I was at first disappointed with my LCD. It looked a little washed out, and I thought I made a mistake getting a 6 bit panel. However a few adjustments later (mainly lowering the gamma) and the colors are amazing. I had an expesive Sony Trinitron before, and my LCDs colors are now much better than my old CRT. Just lower the gamma a little, and add a small amount of "vibrance" if you have an NVidia card.

 

[oMeSSiaHo]

The way monitor looks in the store is going to be very different from the way it looks hooked up properly to a computer. I know at work (red circle store =D) its a pain to get all of the monitors to look half decent. We have like 15 monitors all hooked up to one computer so its impossible to get them all to look the way they should. Even our best monitors have really blurry text that they dont have when they are hooked up to a computer alone.

For what its worth I spend all day looking and many different monitors. Even the cheapest Proview dosent have washed colors. A good number of the cheaper monitors have trouble showing colors propery, either too blue or too red, but the better ones dont have that issue. They either look as good or better then some of the CRTs I've seen. Its going to be mostly subjective though.

 

[icp]

Originally posted by: oMeSSiaHo
The way monitor looks in the store is going to be very different from the way it looks hooked up properly to a computer. I know at work (red circle store =D) its a pain to get all of the monitors to look half decent. We have like 15 monitors all hooked up to one computer so its impossible to get them all to look the way they should. Even our best monitors have really blurry text that they dont have when they are hooked up to a computer alone.

This is especially a problem if they have LCD monitors of different sizes hooked up to the same computer. The LCD monitors will have different native resolutions so it will be impossible to set the computer resolution to optimize for all of them.

I went into a retail store where they had their LCD monitors hooked up to laptop computers. Of course the laptop display resolution was set to 10x7 for the little laptop screens but the native resolution of the 19" LCD monitors that were hooked up to them was 12x10.

 

[oMeSSiaHo]

We actually dont have that problem as we know enough to keep them at native ;D. The 17 and 19 inch monitors are connected to the same PC and the 15 and 21 inch monitors have their own PCs. Its always funny when a customer asks why the craptastic 15 inch HP monitor looks better then the xbrite and Samsung monitors.

 

[Wellsoul2]

There are tradeoffs but overall I'd take my cheaper 19in LCD over my 19in CRT which
sits in the closet. Native resolution, sharpness, flatness is better.

I find that the black level is great in newer games/software.

I did have to adjust it with a program and set gamma lower.
Yeah..it sux looking at it off center but I usually don't use my computer from
across the room. Contrast level on mine is 800.

Everything looks better, even old games at interpolated 1024x768.